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THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’S LATEST FARM TO SCHOOL CENSUS OFFERS AN INSIDE LOOK AT HOW FARM-TO-SCHOOL EFFORTS HAVE GROWN OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS AND WHAT CHALLENGES REMAIN IN EXPANDING FARM-TO-SCHOOL PROGRAMMING FURTHER. 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF FARM-TO-SCHOOL
T he U.S. Department of Agricul- ture (USDA) has released its latest Farm to School Census which offers an inside look at changes and trends happen- ing with farm-to-school programming across the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released its latest Farm to School Census which offers an inside look at changes and trends happen- ing with farm-to-school programming across the country. The 2023 Census details farm-to- school programming during the 2022- 23 school year. It includes responses from 11,803 public, private, and charter school food authorities (SFAs) taken during fall 2023. Here are five things to know from the report. 1.FARM-TO-SCHOOL PARTICIPATION GREW DESPITE COVID-19 The pandemic did not block School Food Authorities (SFAs) efforts from participating in farm-to-school pro- graming. According to the report, 74% of SFA’s participated in farm-to-school during the 22-23 school year compared to only 65% of SFA’s participating during the 2018-19 school year. In addition, half of the SFA’s who participated in farm-to-school pro- graming in the 2022-23 school year said that have been participating for three or more years, compared to only 43% say- ing the same in 2019. BY BENITA GINGERELLA
4.FARM-TO-SCHOOL PARTICIPANTS EXPERIENCED A VARIETY OF BENEFITS SFAs who did participate in farm-to- school programming said that they experienced a wide range of benefits, including an increase in consump- tion of fruits and vegetables in school meals (61% of participating SFAs), ac- cess to better quality foods (57 %) and an increased positive perception of the school food program among educators (49%). 5.AVAILABILITY OF LOCAL FOODS AND STAFFING ARE BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATING IN FARM-TO- SCHOOLPROGRAMMING Forty-two percent of SFA’s who partici- pated in farm-to-school listed availabil- ity of local foods as their biggest chal- lenge. The cost of local foods was the second biggest challenge cited by 35% of SFA’s. For SFA’s who do not participate in farm-to-school, staffing challeng- es were cited as the biggest reason for their lack of farm-to-school participa- tion.
2.SERVING LOCAL FOODS WAS THE MOST POPULAR FARM-TO-SCHOOL ACTIVITY A majority (63%) of SFA’s participating in farm-to-school served local foods in some form during the 2022-23 school year. Forty-nine percent also reported offering at least one agricultural edu- cational activity and 49% shared that they offered local food promotion ac- tivity. 3.FLUID MILK WAS THE MOST COMMON LOCAL FOOD PURCHASE MADE BY SFA’S An estimated $1.8 billion was spent on local food during the 2022-23 school year representing about 16% of SFA’s total food spending. Fluid milk was the most common local product purchased, making up about half of local spending at $955 million. Apples, beef, poultry, lettuce, baked goods, salad mix, watermelon, orang- es and strawberries were also listed as some of the most popular local pur- chases by farm-to-school participants.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
FSD QUARTERLY
Q4 2024
40
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